Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters’ (CME) newest partner, HSBC Bank Canada, announced on July 17 a contribution of $1 billion over the next 18 months for Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that do international business or have plans to expand globally.

CME is pleased to partner with HSBC to provide manufacturers and exporters the tools, information, analysis and profiles to do business outside Canada.

The funding is available to qualifying new and current HSBC customers with an annual revenue of $3-$250 million and a proven interest in cross-border trading or international growth.

HSBC’s Executive Vice President for Commercial Banking, Linda Seymour, says statistics show Canadian companies that do business internationally tend to grow faster over the longer term than companies focused solely on domestic activity. “Throughout its history,” she adds, “HSBC has been connecting customers to opportunities, enabling businesses to thrive and economies to prosper, and this initiative builds on that tradition."

“This investment provides opportunities for manufacturers and exporters looking to expand in the global marketplace and access new trade routes,” says CME President & CEO Jayson Myers. “CME is pleased to partner with HSBC to support Canadian businesses in these market diversification efforts.”

While Canada maintains strong, historic trade ties with the United States, HSBC's semi-annual Global Trade Forecast shows greater global economic growth is taking place in emerging markets, with the fastest growing corridors of Canada's export growth by 2030 being Asia and the Middle East.